


Currents

by Xyriath



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, F/F, Tentacle Clit, Tentacle Dick, Tentacles, Trans Female Pidge | Katie Holt, they bang ok
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-26
Updated: 2019-02-26
Packaged: 2019-11-06 05:59:15
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 18,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17934155
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Xyriath/pseuds/Xyriath
Summary: With the Galra invading their underwater world and kidnapping merfolk, Pidge is determined to find her brother and put a stop to it.  And after allying with a beautiful and mysterious mermaid, she just might be able to.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the Lady Love Bang!
> 
> Art accompanied by the lovely [jptr343](https://twitter.com/jptr343?s=09). You can find the link here!
> 
>  https://twitter.com/jptr343/status/1100550747156971520
> 
> Please note that I don't science. If the science is wrong, I don't wanna know.

As the seaweed waved in the gentle currents, Pidge allowed it to carry her, staying very, very still.

Her coloration and shape left her naturally well-suited to this task, but any form of aggression, even guerilla, had never been her specialty.

The leaf-like fins that trailed from her body did their work.  The Galra, already hampered by their suits—necessary to allow them to survive underwater—completely misread the sight of the camouflaged mer drifting towards them.  Just like the seadragon whose form she resembled.

Only, seadragons didn’t approach an enemy while armed to the teeth.

Once she found herself within range of the group, settled to camp for the evening, presumably—they had stopped using boats and opted for more long-term underwater exploration once mers had become judicious about any form of watercraft destruction—she reached into the pouch at her belt, plucking out a small, round ball and sending it rolling towards them.

A breath, then two, and then everything went still.  Pidge allowed herself to relax, closing her eyes in relief.  Now she only had to wait.

She settled in, giving over to her instincts and refusing to move.

Her eyes flicked over the sight in front of her.  Twelve, all coated in those protective suits, shuffling the foil packets that she knew contained sustenance and hooking them up to tubes attached to the suits.

She felt a little bad, ambushing like this, unsuspecting.  But whenever the guilt began to overwhelm, she simply let her gaze linger on the vicious points of their harpoon guns, shiny with what could only be frequent use, bits of flesh attached to a couple of the hooks.

A flicker of movement from the corner of her vision, and she looked up to see an enormous school of fish in the distance—all swimming directly upwards.  Sopisch didn’t do that, not unless they were being chased.

Just what she’d been waiting for.

One.  Two. Three.  Four.

_ Five. _

With a flick of her tail, she turned, speeding away and putting as much distance between herself and the Galra before they had a chance to notice her.

As she fled to the rocky outcropping she had found earlier for just this purpose, she plucked the switch from her pouch and turned to face the merperson waiting there, watching her with luminous eyes the turquoise color of a tropical sea.

“Tuck yourself in,” Pidge gasped, adrenaline running high.  “Breathe  _ out _ .”

A brown hand darted out, clasping Pidge’s free hand, squeezing it tightly as they both pressed back up against the rock.

Pidge pressed the button.

A muffled  _ boom _ sounded from behind her, the vibrations rolling through her more than the noise did.  Even protected by the rock, the water pressed in on her, and she opened her mouth in shock, her gills clamping closed in protest.  She had to squeeze her eyes shut, terrified that she had misjudged, that her head was about to  _ burst _ from the pressure—

And then the pressure vanished with an almost audible  _ pop _ .

Pidge waited several moments, eyes still screwed shut, ears ringing, while she tried to figure out if she was... if she was dead.  Or squished. Or  _ something _ .  Because something about her surroundings, existence, now seemed to be fundamentally altered.

But then she opened her eyes, taking in the sea ahead of her, the rough rock at her back, and her mind slowly began to reorient itself.

Sonic shockwave.  That made sense; probably messed up something with her equilibrium and left her shaken.  Uncertain. But, she thought as she wiggled her webbed fingers, all of which responded properly, temporary, it seemed.  The ringing was even beginning to subside.

"Oh my goodness," came the faint, accented voice from beside her.  Pidge began to pull her thoughts back together. She had no idea who this other mermaid was, had only met her long enough ago to formulate this plan to sabotage the Galra, but once you work together with someone to blow something up, you were more than acquaintances, right?  So time to get that information.

Hearing: check.  Also, libido,  _ double _ check.  Because wow, that voice warmed Pidge in places that she couldn't imagine the surface light could have ever reached.  The smooth, clear, lilting sound was even more attractive now that she wasn't worrying about Galra divers harpooning them both.

Objectively, that probably meant that her companion's appearance would be, too, which could be a treat.  Or inconvenient. Because what Pidge could remember wasn't much, but it still left an impression of "absolutely gorgeous."

She steeled herself and turned.

Yup.  Definitely still absolutely gorgeous.

The mermaid floating next to her, though still partially obscured by the shadow of the rock that had protected them both, was a vision of elegant beauty: her long, white hair, floating in wavy curls through the still disturbed current, contrasted stunningly with the dark brown skin of her bare torso, clearly toned from frequent swimming.  The woman's tail matched her hair, the long, elegant expanse of... an eel, it seemed, if Pidge had to hazard a guess, and it would be rude to ask. A white eel, with a single long fin running down her back, and as her long body fluttered to keep her upright, Pidge could see that the nearly translucent fin glistened with a pale pink sheen. Though Pidge had been too distracted before this to get a  _ real _ appreciative look, she distinctly remembered the tail’s powerful movement as it had ribboned through the water, propelling her companion forward at a frightening speed.

Pidge didn't miss the woman’s larger breasts, either, not huge but definitely  _ sizable _ , and she had to bite back a twinge of wistfulness and a little bit of jealousy.  While she didn't dislike her own, by any means, and had been extremely pleased when they had grown in, the genetics of her family didn't really lend themselves to its members being particularly well-endowed in the chest area.

It was about then that Pidge realized she had done the slow sliding stare up the entirety of her companion’s body and stopped at the breasts, and as her eyes widened slightly, she jerked them upward to land on a wry expression.

"My name is Allura," she continued with a teasing smirk.  "I imagine we should at least get names out of the way before we start making our intentions towards each other so obvious."

Pidge could feel the blood flush to her face at the dry words.  "No, that's not what I—dammit," she sighed in defeat, lifting a hand to run them through her own curls.  Not nearly as luxurious as Allura's, their thickness could be a massive pain sometimes. Shit, Pidge couldn't tell if she wanted to be Allura, or to—

Well, probably both.

"My name is Pidge," she said, more forceful than she needed to, and held out her hand.  Allura blinked down at it with a slight frown, and Pidge quickly withdrew it. Culture thing, she guessed.

“I… see.  Nice to meet you, Pidge.”  The smile she offered, though small, was warm and genuine, which left Pidge feeling a little less like an asshole for the staring.

The two of them floated in silence for several hesitant moments: despite their friendliness, it was one thing to run into each other in the middle of an ocean, tracking the same Galra, and quickly form a plan to dispose of the group.  After all, they posed a threat to all merpeople. It was another to linger afterwards, to consider opening up about the painful stories hidden underneath. No mer in the ocean had been unaffected by the Galra, and some worse than others.

“You seemed prepared for them,” Allura said at last, breaking the silence, her brilliant eyes meeting Pidge’s.  Up close, Pidge noticed that the irises seemed to have the same pink shimmer to them that Allura’s fins did.

Pidge’s fingers gripped involuntarily at the strap of her satchel.

Allura was a stranger.  She had helped, but she was a complete unknown, and trusting her…

No.  Not a complete unknown.

Thoughts taking less than a fraction of a tick to process, the memories flashed through her mind.  Pidge hadn’t expected to meet anyone out here, but you had to take what you could get, right?

Allura’s lithe form had flashed in front of her, a vision in brown and white, as she had blocked Pidge from continuing her route along the ocean’s currents.  Ready to be annoyed at the stranger, even after noticing her shocking beauty, the words had died on Pidge’s lips when Allura had hissed, without preamble, “Galra!”

She hadn’t needed to warn Pidge like that.  Had probably put herself in more danger, too, lingering on the open pathways of the ocean like that in order to warn a perfect stranger.  And then she had volunteered as a distraction, the bait to Pidge’s plan, as soon as she had learned Pidge had a means of fighting back. Had quickly assumed command without taking control, and things had gone off without a hitch.

So, mysterious?  Maybe. Confident, competent, and courageous?  Certainly. But unknown?

Definitely not.

“This way,” she finally murmured, flicking her tail in the direction from which she had come.  As Allura followed, Pidge struggled with what—and how—to tell her.

As she reached the spot where she had planted the last of her weapons, she slowed to examine her handiwork.

The Galra bodies had been flung wide, not all of them immediately noticeable, but there were… enough.  Their twisted forms, limbs sprawled at awkward, impossible angles, left a tightness in her throat. Small mercies: the suits plastered to their bodies hid the vicious bruising that she knew would mottle their bodies—at least, the furless ones.  Either way, she was glad that she didn’t have to see the corpses.

But as the guilt began to crowd at the back of her throat, she forced herself to turn towards one of their weapons.

The harpoon gun gleamed in the light filtering down from the surface.  While most of the metal was that dull color that came from too much exposure to the corrosive water of the ocean, the tips still shone from constant use.  She didn’t miss the scales that made up the grip, either, clearly designed to provide easier handling of the weapon underwater. Scales made from a  _ person. _  Her stomach clenched.

“We did the right thing,” came the quiet voice from beside her, and a hand slipped through hers.  Though Pidge froze at the unexpected contact, she allowed their fingers to lace together. Despite the clear differences Pidge had already noticed between physical contact for their two cultures, it felt… nice.  “They would have killed us if they had found us, just like they do those who they have no use for. Or worse.”

Pidge followed Allura’s gaze as the latter nodded at a pile of remnants of the camp.  Nets, torn from their containers with the concussive blast, floated in the current.

“They have my brother,” Pidge finally said.

Allura went still beside Pidge, then turned to stare at her, eyes wide.  Pidge braced herself for the inevitable pity that always found its way onto the faces of strangers when she told them, the rearranging of features as they mentally recategorized her into “grieving sibling.”  After all, to them, “have my brother” was the same as “killed my brother,” and their sympathy always showed it.

But the look never came.

Allura simply watched Pidge, as if she had just realized something, a flicker of canniness, shock, and then steadfast ferocity and determination in his eyes.

“And that’s why you’re out here,” Allura finally said, the words not a question.  “You’re going to get him back.”

A gleeful thrill shot down Pidge’s spine, all the way through the tips of her tailfins.  No one had ever said that to her before, had ever even seemed to think that a rescue was within the realm of possibility.

“Yes,” was all Pidge replied, the word firm and fierce.

Allura’s expression did shift now, but not to one of pity.  Instead, she smiled, small and grim, eyes cold.

“Then so am I.”


	2. Chapter 2

Running into Allura became a more and more fortunate event as time stretched on.

Though Pidge had done her best to track the paths the Galra had traveled, calculate a point of origin, it had led her in meandering lines across the ocean floor as she checked and rechecked her route, sometimes doubling back on herself when she realized a mistake.

Allura nodded appreciatively at the effort, eyes flicking over the hologram Pidge projected from the device on her wrist that showed her route so far.

“This is very good work.  But I also have something that might make your task much easier.”

With a dramatic flourish of arms and tail, Allura pulled a section of kelp out of her own pouch and unrolled it.

The stains on the kelp revealed that Allura—or whoever had created it—had been in a hurry to record the information.  The act of “writing” had a very small place in the history of mer-society, as the difficulties of doing so underwater had prompted a rapid advancement into Balmera crystal-powered technology to make it easier to record information.  But sometimes, if you didn’t have any other options, you used what you could.

And as Pidge took in the markings, her eyes widened.

“This is a map,” she chattered excitedly, flicking parts of her own hologram with deft fingers.  “I recognize… hang on, so there are the current paths… and if you adjust for… and this place is…”

Finally, with a triumphant noise, she zoomed in on her own map, pointing at an emphasized spot on the kelp, saving the image.  “Got it!”

When she finished, turning to Allura, Allura watched her with an impressed expression.

“You’re far better with technology than I am.  It would have been wonderful to have had you along from the beginning.”

Despite her excitement at the map, Pidge could feel her face flushing at the compliment.  When the corners of Allura’s mouth quirked up, Pidge looked away hurriedly. “So, uh, this is what I think it is, then?”

“If what you think this is is the location where the Galra are gathering, then yes.  And, if…” She hesitated, and Pidge knew well the look of debating whether or not someone would think you mad for what you were about to say.

Allura squared her shoulders.  “And if I’m right, it’s where the Galra are keeping the prisoners they take.”

A tangled mix of emotions—elation, hope, fear, even wariness—shot through Pidge, and for the briefest of moments, she considered slowing down.  Trusting a stranger with so much, so quickly could be disastrous.

But she had come too far by now to let caution stop her.

“I’m coming with you,” she replied, and as Allura opened her mouth, Pidge cut her off with a sharp gesture.  “Listen, I’ve been searching for my brother for months, and if I’m gonna find him alive, it’ll be where you’re headed.  You can try to tell me no, but I’ll just follow you anyway, and you’ve probably seen enough by now that I’m resourceful enough to.  So don’t even think about arguing.”

Allura raised one beautiful white eyebrow, still watching Pidge with that intrigued expression.

“I was intending on telling you that we’re likely looking at about eight more days of travel.”

“...Oh.”

—

Pidge earned more of Allura’s story, as they swam, the two of them pursuing their route with a singleminded determination that allowed no other diversions except for talk.

“Our kingdom has faced some of the worst disappearances since the Galra have begun their invasion.  While I know everywhere has suffered to some extent—they don’t care where they seize their Balmera crystals, only that they do—my people have…”  She hesitated, glancing over at Pidge from the corner of her eye as they propelled themselves through the current. “Different races have different gifts.  Some have an affinity for technology; some are much stronger or faster than others. Ours was actually the race that discovered the Balmera crystal technology.  As such, we evolved to use them in ways that no others can. Your wonderful device on your wrist does much for you, but you need it to interface with the crystals.  We can simply do it directly. Convincing illusions, for example—holograms, essentially—or other things, such as long-distance communication. We use technology, of course, but we don’t need it the way others do.  It’s been a great boon to our society, but when the Galra came, it made us targets.”

Pidge could feel her stomach rolling.  The Galra had already shown that they had no qualms with harvesting mers for whatever resources they needed: the strength of their bones for building, the utility of their scales for too many things to count, even their flesh for food.  Pidge could only imagine what sorts of terrible experiments they might perform on beings who could directly interface with the crystals, hoping to gain that ability for themselves.

“I’m so sorry,” she murmured.

Allura only continued to stare straight ahead.  “We suffered heavy losses, and though we’ve gotten much better at defending ourselves, we can’t win every time.  I don’t have any illusions that my people are all still alive, but if I can rescue even one of them—one of  _ any _ mer—from the laboratories of these monsters, I’ll have succeeded in what I’ve come out here to do.”

The ferocity in her voice sent chills down Pidge’s spine, and she swallowed.  “I’m guessing your answer is similar to mine, but why are you out here alone, then?”

Bubbles escaped Allura’s mouth along with a scoff.  “Did they believe  _ you _ when you said you were going to get your brother back?”

“Then, yeah.  Same problem as me.  Guess we’re just gonna have to prove them all wrong.”

—

Though Pidge didn't deny that she'd had the niggling fear that they'd run out of conversation on the journey, leaving the two of them swimming in awkward silence, the conversation rarely faltered, even continuing later than it should some nights, when they were meant to be sleeping.

Q

“Twin?” Allura asked one evening, as they curled together in a grotto, the hazy light of the moon filtering down into the sea.  “That sounds amazing. I always wished I’d have a sibling.”

Pidge chuckled sleepily.  “Sometimes, yeah. But he’s like… two minutes earlier, and he never lets me forget it.  But it’s okay; I tell him that I’m pretty sure mom mixed us up when we were younger, anyway, so I’m probably the  _ real _ older one.”

Allura let out a delighted laugh, and then Pidge could feel her tilt her head.  “Mixed up? So you’re…”

Pidge remained quiet for a moment.  She’d learned that not everyone could be as accepting as her community, but Allura seemed like a good sort.

“Identical.  We were. But like I told you, we’ve got so much access to technology—and groundbreaking medicine, too—that when I… I realized that I was different than Matt, that I was a girl, my parents got me everything I needed.”  She makes a face. “Matt was always like a big brother with a little sister, anyway. You know, in that obnoxious way.”

“I can imagine,” Allura said with a chuckle, her fingers brushing over Pidge’s hand and curling around it.  “Your family sounds wonderful. I think I’d like to meet them someday.”

Pidge smiled crookedly, eyes fluttering closed.  “I think I’d like you to, too.”

—

Day five, the two of them were swimming—making quite good time, in fact—when Allura suddenly spun to the side, whirling like a torpedo as she practically tackled Pidge into a patch of seaweed.

“Wha—!” Pidge sputtered, but got no further as Allura slapped her hand over Pidge’s mouth.  Instead of responding, Allura pointed.

There, patrolling the only spot between the ravine they needed to pass through, came five Galra.  With empty ocean floor ahead of them and so many in one place—the Galra may very well have torn it all up to avoid spots for cover—there was no way Pidge and Allura could approach without being seen.

Pidge’s heart caught in her throat.  Had they miscalculated? Were they so close already?  Or, even worse, were the Galra numbers so huge that they had the manpower to spread across so much ocean?

“We have to get past them,” Allura whispered, fear in her beautiful blue eyes.  “To get around—it’s days to swim. If we’re lucky.”

“There are too many.  There’s no way,” Pidge hissed back.  “Even if they change shifts, they’ll always be able to have someone…”

Allura nodded, burning eyes still fixed on the Galra.  “Maybe if we create a distraction?”

“Yeah.”  Pidge chewed on her lip, thinking.  “I’m fast. I might be able to—”

“No!” Allura snapped, turning to glare at Pidge.  “I’ll not have you risk yourself like that.”

Pidge set her jaw.  She hadn’t even  _ finished _ ; Allura could have at least heard her out.  She would have thought that, after their talk about being underestimated, Allura would understand.  She’d understand the feeling of being told all her life to be careful, to not put herself in danger, to not make risks like this.  Pacifism was fine, sure, but not when it became near-suicide.

But instead of arguing, she turned back to watch the patrols, expression drawn.  The Galra continued to walk across the area, regimented and orderly.

In fact…

_ One, two, three, four, five… _

Something about the pattern bothered her.  Bothered? Maybe not quite. Was something she recognized, perhaps.

So rhythmic.  Almost… robotically so.

Now that her instincts had whispered that something was off, she paid more attention.  The Galra didn’t quite move like she would have expected.

It dawned on her like a sunrise.

With her experiences making holograms, she knew exactly how tricky it could be to ensure that they behaved properly with water currents.  It had taken her years to perfect, and even then, she still messed up. So it made sense that creatures that lived in air instead of water wouldn’t know how to get them quite right.

After studying all five, she had grown even more certain.

She swam towards the edge of the seaweed bed, but Allura gasped, grabbing her arm and yanking her back.

“Are you  _ mad? _ ”

“What?  No! They’re not real, Allura.  I promise.”

But Allura refused to loosen her grip, glaring at Pidge.  “You  _ are _ mad!  Of course they’re real!  Look at them!”

“No, I—look, Allura, I’ve done this enough times to know a hologram when I see one.”  Pidge glared right back, the frustration from earlier welling up again. “Trust me.”

But Allura refused to move.  “I won’t let you get yourself killed.”

Pidge glared for a moment longer, but then sighed in acquiescence, sagging.  “Okay. Let’s think of something else.”

Allura nodded sharply, finally releasing her grip.  Seeing her chance, Pidge darted out and towards the Galra.

“No!” cried Allura, but it was too late.

All for the best, anyway.  As Pidge sped towards them, they didn’t even look over, continuing their rhythmic—their  _ programmed _ —patterns.

When she swam through the closest with no more resistance than water usually gave her, she smirked.

It was the work of only a few doboshes to inspect the rocky outcroppings and pluck the projectors from their spots.  As she fiddled with them, she discovered, to her delight, that they were in fact little drones. Though clearly designed by Galra, they had the necessary adjustments to function underwater, and it would be simple work to reprogram them to her own needs.

A throat cleared behind her, and Pidge turned to see Allura floating up to her, a sheepish expression on her face.

“I… I suppose you were right,” Allura said quietly.  “I’m sorry.”

Pidge pressed her lips together, ducking her head and nodding.  She didn’t know how to explain how upset Allura had left her, so she just shrugged.

“It’s okay.  It happens.”


	3. Chapter 3

The water grew shallower as they continued to travel, and at the end of the seventh day, a dark shape resolved in the distance, stretching up to the surface of the ocean and breaching it.  Pidge’s throat tightened: though the details were impossible to make out, she had never seen anything so monstrous. Things should stay  _ below _ the water, not rise up out of them, and she suddenly didn’t want to know how much further it extended, or what it looked like when it did.

She could vaguely see dark clouds billowing out of the sides of the structure, and she could taste the pollution in the back of her throat as her gills attempted to filter out the impurity.

“Of course they don’t care about destroying what they don’t have to live in,” Allura spat, voice low and acidic.  She squinted angrily through the haze in the water, and Pidge only nodded in agreement, not trusting herself to speak.  If she opened her mouth, she might very well vomit. She had to grit her teeth and concentrate to spot the subtle ridges on the ocean’s ground that indicated traps of some kind, and once, swimming through a patch of seaweed for concealment, she startled a school of sopisch into darting frantically away, swimming over one of the ridges.

Luckily, the explosion’s radius didn’t reach far enough to harm them.

At the very least, the haze provided a cover as they approached, which proved especially useful to conceal Allura’s bright white tail.  As they grew closer, however, not only did the hidden traps become more numerous, but Pidge also found herself spotting more and more automated sentries that she had to quickly cloak them from.  Once, she actually saw a group of Galra in their evil-looking suits leaving the structure, and she and Allura had had to dive behind a large rock in order to avoid being spotted.

As they pressed against the stone, still as they could manage, Pidge’s heart beating so loudly that she could hear it in her ears, she came to a slow realization.

As soon as her scanning tech had indicated that the Galra had headed off in another direction, Pidge pulled away and turned to face Allura.

“I need to scout alone.”

Allura’s eyes widened in shock, then anger, and she drew herself up, looking breathtakingly… regal.  “Absolutely not. I  _ forbid _ it!”

Pidge had been prepared to argue, but the presumption in the words left her nearly dizzy with unexpected fury.

“ _ Forbid _ it?” she snapped, drawing herself up as well, though she was maybe only half the length of Allura, all told.  “You can’t forbid me to do  _ anything. _  You’re not in charge of me, I was doing just fine without you, and your  _ tail _ is going to give us away if you get any closer!”  She pointed towards the route they would need to take, cover sparse and far between.  “So unless you want to get us both killed, you need to listen to me and not just assume that you know best!”

Anger flashed in Allura’s eyes, just for a moment, and she opened her mouth.  Pidge prepared herself for an argument, bracing—

But then Allura’s gaze skittered in the direction that Pidge was pointing, and Pidge could see her visibly, tangibly slump.

“...You’re right,” she finally said, voice croaking as she turned away.  The expression on her face was a mixture of bitterness, regret, and resignation.  “Just… just please be safe.”

“I’ll meet you, right here, as soon as I’m able,” Pidge promised, sagging herself with relief that this wasn’t going to end up a huge fight.  “I’ll be fast. I promise.”

Allura swallowed, meeting Pidge’s eyes.

“Then go,” she said, fiercely, hope raw on her face.

—

Though she knew she had to get closer for this to work, Pidge's heart pounded wildly as she slowly approached the fortress.

At first, she could only spot blobs, strange materials that she couldn't identify, but one bit in particular, darker than the rest, caught her attention.

As she swam closer, it resolved into… bars?  Those were definitely metal bars, and the water flowed in through them, creating a caged off section of ocean that disappeared into the structure.  While her first instinct was that it was some sort of vent or sewer, further inspection revealed that it was far too big for that.

_ A cage. _

She shouldn’t.  Not this close to the Galra defenses.  But her curiosity made her bold, and as she swam closer, she caught a flicker of movement.

Screw it.  She was going in.

Her tail propelled her forward, the last bit of distance, and her fingers curled around the bars as she tried to peer in.

“Someone’s here!”

The hissed words reverberated through the water, and forms materialized out of the darkness, first slowly, then growing exponentially.  Pidge spotted fins, tails, and she sagged with relief.

“Yes, yes, I’m here!” she hissed back, eyes darting around frantically as the mers began to swarm to her.  Turtles, octopi, dolphins, and so many other fish, coldwater and tropical alike. The Galra truly had taken prisoners from what had to be every corner of the ocean.

And all of them looked haggard.  Gaunt. One of them had a missing arm, a streak of white in his hair despite his youth.  Pidge could barely stand spending a short amount of time in this filthy water. What could having been imprisoned here for so much longer have done to these mers?

“What’s she doing—girl, how did you—are you mad?”

“Katie?”

At the croaked voice, Pidge spun wildly, peering for the owner.  “Matt?  _ Matt! _ ”

She couldn’t dart forward to search for the familiar voice because of the bars, and she found herself reaching through them anyway, trying to nudge them aside and hunt for—

A familiar head of brown hair pushed to the front of the group, webbed hands curling around Pidge’s, and she tugged him forward, motions frantic as she lifted her own to cup his face.

“Oh, god, Matty, what have they done to you?” she whispered.

Of the mers in captivity, Matt looked the worst, and easily.  His hair was lank and dull, his skin deathly pale, and his skin was pulled so tightly against his bones that he nearly looked like a skeleton.

He let out a ragged laugh, clearly more to keep her from worrying than actually out of humor, and closed his eyes.  “Not what they could have. Trust me, Katie, I’m one of the lucky ones. I got here after they found out that we would die if kept anywhere besides the ocean.  After… after they realized that some of us were more useful than others, and that I… I wasn’t one of the ones they needed, not as badly.”

Pidge heard a small, terrified noise off to the side, and when she glanced over, she caught sight of a few mers huddled off to the side, some with the bodies of eels, all with the colored facial markings of Allura.

“Experiments,” she said in a quiet voice, remembering what Allura had told her.  “To find out how they use the crystals.”

Matt nodded, face twisting.  “At first, they just wanted to test better ways to survive underwater, I think.  But once they found about the Alteans, they stopped all of those efforts and…”

Matt didn’t finish.  Pidge didn’t need him to.

“Has anyone been inside?” she asked, voice tense and quiet.

“Wh—yes, but why—”  At the look on Pidge’s face, Matt’s eyes widened.  “Katie,  _ no. _  I don’t know what you’re planning, but you  _ can’t. _ ”

“I can, and I  _ will! _ ” she snapped, every bit as fierce as earlier.  “I don’t know why everyone thinks that I’m just going to run away when faced with the tiniest bit of danger.  Why the hell do you think I’m  _ here _ , Matt?  To tell you hi and then swim away?!”

Matt winced.  “No, that isn’t what I—”

“I have.”

Both Pidge and Matt turned at the quiet, firm voice, and the one-armed merman with the shock of white hair that Pidge had spotted earlier had swum up to her.  Now that she got a better look, she caught sight of a square, handsome face and the shimmering blue-green and black stripes of a bonito running down his tail. She swallowed when she caught the angry, jagged stripes on the bicep of his right arm.  The loss was recent, then, and no prosthetic likely meant…

“Shiro,” Matt murmured, anguish in his voice, but the other merman shook his head.

“We both have someone waiting for us, just like we talked about,” Shiro said, voice still low, eyes still fixed on Pidge.  “And I’m going to help you get back to yours.”

Though Matt opened his mouth again, Pidge simply turned away and activated her hologram.  “You can call me Pidge. Tell me everything.”

And so he did, outlining his knowledge of the interior as Pidge frantically recorded everything she could, trying to ignore the wheezing between sentences, an indicator of how long he had been trapped next to this pollution.

“ _ Katie! _ ”

The urgent note in Matt’s voice snapped her attention back to the situation at hand, and as she caught sight of him frantically pointing, she whirled.

Galra shapes, beginning to coalesce in the fog.

“Go!” Matt hissed, but Pidge began to rummage frantically through her bag.

“No!  No, I can get you all out; I came prepared; thermite will melt the bars—”

A gentle hand reached out to close around her wrist, firmly tugging it away from the pouch.  She swallowed and lifted her eyes and met intent gray ones.

“Don’t give yourself away.  Come back for us. We aren’t going anywhere.”

She swallowed, turning back to Matt, who watched her with a pleading expression.  He nodded once.

“Katie, please.  I know you will.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, then reached out to take his hands.  “When will it be safe again?”

“Tomorrow night.”

Pidge nodded, and Matt gave one last squeeze of her fingers before she turned and fled.


	4. Chapter 4

“You,” Allura breathed, as Pidge showed her the holograms, “are absolutely mad.”

Pidge swallowed, wishing that the words left her less anxious.  “I… uh, well, I found my brother—”

“That’s wonderful!”  Allura beamed over at her, and the worry began to trickle out of Pidge.

She laughed a little, more flustered than she would have liked in the face of such elegant beauty.  “Even though I’m absolutely mad?”

“Pidge,” Allura laughed back, taking her hands and drawing them up to her chest.  “If you weren’t mad, this plan of ours would barely have the slightest chance of succeeding.”

And then Allura dropped Pidge’s hands, reached out to take her face, and kissed her.

Even as Allura’s soft lips touched hers, Pidge’s usually quick mind still needed several moments to catch up to the fact that this was actually  _ happening. _  Allura tilted her head just so, mouth gentle and present and  _ wonderful _ against Pidge’s, and Pidge just—

Oh, god, she hadn’t even kissed back.

As Allura began to pull away, slow and maybe even uncertain, Pidge made a noise of protest, reaching up to take her face as well and tug it back so she could kiss her  _ properly. _

A soft noise escaped from Allura’s mouth into Pidge’s, and the thought that she, of all people, left  _ Allura  _ pleased enough to hum during a kiss sent a shivery thrill down her spine.  Pidge had thought about this over the past several days, more than was fair, and now that it was happening, Allura’s soft lips against hers, her thoughts spun frantically, excitement and nerves and recklessness.

They might die tomorrow, so Pidge was going to make the damn most of it.

She slid her hands from Allura’s face to around her neck, locking them together and pulling her closer as the kiss deepened.  Not only did Allura reciprocate, pressing closer, chest to chest, but she slid a tongue into Pidge’s mouth and arms around her waist, thumbs tracing gentle patterns down the skin at her back.

Pidge clung on for dear life, kissing back almost frantically.  Though she wouldn’t have considered herself especially inexperienced, not before this, Allura kissed like she was born to it, like she could sweep Pidge off through the currents and kiss her silly until she couldn't remember her name.  Like she had plenty of practice, and while the thought shouldn't have surprised Pidge, somewhere in the back of her mind, the part that wasn't absolutely fucking melting into a puddle at Allura's lips, she found herself more than a little intimidated.

But really, when you were swooning like this, there was only so much you could let that sort of thing distract you.

Allura finally pulled back, eyes shining as they met Pidge's.

"That was even better than I'd imagined," she murmured, and Pidge had to tighten her arms around Allura's neck to avoid completely sliding out of her grip and just.  Dying. Right then and there.

"You'd imagined it?" Pidge finally managed, voice an embarrassing squeak, head spinning, and though she was finally free of Allura's lips, she quickly lost herself again in her face, the beautiful features elegant and smooth with perfect, slightly swollen lips crooked up in a coy smile.  Both white tail and white hair flowed out behind her in the gentle currents of the water, and Pidge felt a warmth growing in her chest, heading down her waist as it finally began to click how very, very close they were.

"Of course," Allura murmured, leaning in again, and Pidge froze.  The lips barely brushed against her jaw, but Pidge shivered anyway, and this time, Allura's chest pressed  _ deliberately _ up against hers.  Pidge still didn't dare to move, even as every fantasy of the past week came back, all together, in full force, as Allura's breasts pressed up against her own.  Every nerve in her body seemed to stand on alert, and the soft pressure left her mind immediately diving down in filthier directions. The peaks of Allura's nipples, which Pidge realized had grown as hard as Pidge's own, completely sealed the deal.

Should she move?  Should she try something?  She could definitely lower her arms to somewhere much more fun right now, but she didn't—well, Allura had kissed her, but did she  _ really— _

Allura pulled back once again, and as Pidge met her eyes once again, she saw mischief sparkling in their blue and pink depths.  The smile had grown to a smirk, and the reality of the situation crashed into her, no longer just a thing of hope: Allura was  _ definitely _ teasing her, but with clear intentions of following through.

"Does that surprise you?"  She tilted her head, and the smirk grew.  "I certainly thought you had been doing the same, after..."

"Yes!" Pidge blurted.  "I mean, not that I've been—"  She really had tried to control the staring!  "I didn't mean to—but you're just... really pretty.  Gorgeous, really, and I just..."

As she trailed off, Allura let out a soft laugh and darted in for another kiss, this one briefer but rougher.  Pidge barely had time to kiss back before Allura pulled away, leaving a dazed Pidge floating after her.

"And you, Pidge, are adorable," Allura murmured before making a lithe twist in the water, the stretches of her brown skin on deliberate, tantalizing display, then turned to shoot Pidge a smirk over her shoulder.  "So, yes, I've been thinking about this quite a bit."

She darted away at an angle, clearly trying to swim behind Pidge, and Pidge caught on just slowly enough that she completely missed it and had to flail about for a moment as she oriented herself.  Allura had continued onward, continuing to circle Pidge, one webbed hand reaching out to tug gently at one of the fronds coming from her tail as she grinned wickedly.

Pidge spun to follow her, growing dizzier as Allura continued to swim around her.  With an indignant huff, Pidge finally made her own move, dashing towards Allura and reaching out in an attempt to yank at one of her curls.

Her fingers barely managed to brush a lock of hair before Allura laughed delightedly and darted out of reach.

The chase continued as they swam around each other, Pidge's anxiety slowly vanishing as they taunted and teased, tickling where they could reach and admiring where they couldn't.  Her face ached, and it was a few moments before she realized that she was grinning harder than she had since Matt had disappeared.

Matt.  The reality of their situation came crashing down on her yet again, and she drifted to a stop.  Should she be wasting time flirting like this while he was still imprisoned? Suffering? Maybe even dying?  The guilt began to return, and when Allura realized that Pidge was no longer chasing, she paused as well, turning and swimming back towards her, a concerned expression on her face.

"You're worried about him," she murmured, and relief swept through Pidge's chest, that she didn't have to explain.  She simply met Allura's eyes and nodded.

Allura returned the nod, drifting closer, reaching out to take Pidge's face again.  Though she didn't lean in to kiss her, their proximity still sent a shiver down Pidge's spine yet again.

"Do you want to stop?" she murmured, expression searching, thumbs running gently down Pidge's cheeks.  "I'm sorry. I was... relieved. Thrilled. I only just now realize that my manner of celebration might be considered disrespectful, especially after you've had so much happen."

Pidge hesitated for very long moments.  Disrespectful? Not exactly. Insensitive?  Maybe. She was out here, flirting with a beautiful mermaid, while Matt was...

"We will go tomorrow," Allura continued, all mirth gone.  "I promise you that. Regardless of anything else that happens."

What would change, then, if she denied herself this?  If she denied herself the comfort that came from being close to another, the affection that, even if only temporarily, held the aching cracks in her chest together, what good would that do Matt?

She had already told herself that, if they died tomorrow, she was going to enjoy the time she had left.  Actually living up to that, however, was another matter entirely.

"No," she finally said.  "No, it's not... disrespectful.  I'm sorry. I've just had... a long day."  She smiled over at Allura tiredly. "It's been a lot to take in."

Allura nodded, then let go of Pidge's face, moving to swim back, but Pidge caught a wrist before she could, using the anchor to pull them both towards each other until their torsos bumped.  In a moment of boldness, Pidge reached her tail forward, sliding it down Allura's, and Allura responded eagerly, twining them together and pressing up against her in comfort.

At Allura's confused, hopeful expression, Pidge swallowed, steeling herself.

"Please," she murmured, then leaned in again.

The kiss differed from their others once again.  Long, slow, deep, with a hint of desperation from the both of them, they pressed back together, and Pidge allowed herself to be swept away in the thrill of this intimacy.  Further emboldened, she slid her smaller hands around Allura's waist, slowly moving them up her torso, though the two of them were so close she could feel her own skin on the back of her thumbs.  Allura returned the gesture, though her hands drifted lower, hands gripping firmly near the top of Pidge's tail, leaving her gasping with surprised pleasure.

Pidge allowed Allura to take the lead for a few moments, and they both drifted down until they reached a bed of seaweed, the soft fronds curling around them and obscuring them from sight.  As they nestled together, Allura used the flexibility of her tail to wind more tightly around Pidge, expression soft as she leaned in for another kiss.

Resting on the ocean floor was always an odd experience, a sort of relief that Pidge never really fully appreciated until she no longer kept herself unconsciously afloat, all of the subtle adjustments to her body that controlled her buoyancy and speed and position.  Resting there in Allura’s arms only enhanced the sensation tenfold.

Then they kissed again, and every other feeling fell away.

Encouraged by Allura’s pleased noises, Pidge allowed her hands to wander.  The warmth of her skin contrasted with the slight chill of the water, and Pidge took her time exploring.  Though they still stole the occasional kisses, Pidge quickly found herself watching, distracted, as she ran a hand a hand tentatively up Allura’s side, flushing slightly as their eyes met.  Allura’s expression, however, was as confident as always.

“Oh, Pidge,” she hummed, leaning back slightly, as if teasing the possibility of beginning the chase again.  “I  _ know _ you’re bolder than that.”

The heat in Pidge’s face deepened, but with it came her obstinate streak rearing its head, pushing away all of her hesitance.  She reached forward, cupping one of Allura’s breasts and leaning forward to kiss at the top.

“ _ Oh _ ,” came the soft gasp from above her, and Pidge felt her own lips curve up in a smirk as Allura’s hand tightened on her waist.  She shouldn’t have asked for boldness if she hadn’t been prepared for the result!

Pidge nipped slightly at the soft skin, drawing another gasp from Allura, and her other hand slid up Allura’s stomach.  Still slow, yes, but so much more deliberate now, taking in every inch of skin, every quiver, eyelids lowering in contentment as Allura’s low moan reverberated through Pidge’s ears and mouth.

She smirked, then lifted her hand to cup the other breast, squeezing gently as she nipped harder on the other, reveling in the taste of it beneath her tongue.

“Pidge!” Allura panted as Pidge slid her mouth down to lick at a nipple, tasting it leisurely before pulling back and admiring the sight.  The dark nub had hardened under her tongue, and the same pink markings that framed her eyes accented her breasts as well, drawing attention to the nipples.  On impulse, she pushed herself up, leaning over and pressing Allura down into the bed of seaweed.

"Yeah," Pidge panted back.  "Yeah, I can be bolder than that."

Allura reached up, the surprise on her face quickly shifting into pleasure.  "I certainly have no complaints myself. Maybe I should tease you into that more often."  Her fingers buried gently into Pidge's curls, winding her hair around them, then tightened, pulling her head in for another eager kiss.

Pidge reciprocated, sliding her tongue into Allura's mouth in an attempt to continue to prove her boldness, and Allura gently licked back into Pidge's mouth, tilting her head, and giving her one of those breathtaking, impossibly amazing kisses once again.  So distracted was Pidge with the kiss that she completely missed Allura's other hand until it cupped over one of Pidge's smaller breasts in presumable retaliation for earlier. The fingers tweaked at a nipple, so hard as to almost be painful, and Pidge gasped delightedly against Allura's mouth at the jolt of pleasure that it sent running through her.

"Your body is wonderful," Allura murmured against Pidge's mouth, continuing the kisses between words.  She gripped a bit harder at Pidge's chest, then moved on to the other, tugging once again at the nipple until it stood as firmly as Allura's own, her hand large enough to contain the entirety of Pidge's breast as she rubbed up and down, clearly after no other purpose other than to feel Pidge, to enjoy the sensation of her body against Allura's, and to get her hands on every inch of skin possible.

Pidge pressed down into her as Allura's hands slid to Pidge's back once again, slowly taking their time exploring everything: Pidge's ribs, her freckled shoulders, the sensitive join between tail and waist, and—

"Oh, god!" Pidge yelped into Allura's neck, eyes squeezing shut as Allura's skilled fingers slid across the fronds of Pidge's tail, clearly aware how sensitive they could be—that, or she just had amazing instincts.  The gentle contact as they moved from one frond to another, sliding the smooth skin between them, tugging excruciatingly gently, sent desire arrowing straight downward, to the sheath below Pidge's navel, and she could feel herself stirring in eagerness.

"Good, then?" Allura whispered, and Pidge pulled back slightly and met her eyes, mouth half-open, not quite able to form the words to tell her "yes!"  Allura didn't seem to need the reassurance, though, as her hands continued to roam, moving around to the front of Pidge's tail and then tracing a finger around—

Pidge yelped again, but softer, as the finger pressed gently up against the slit in Pidge's front, and at the smirk on Allura's face when she felt the parts inside responding eagerly to her touch, Pidge had to hide her face in Allura's neck yet again.

"I can't wait to have you inside of me," Allura murmured, voice fond and eager and sending thrills of embarrassed anticipation down to the tips of Pidge's tailfins.  Yes, she had done this before, but never with someone so... so  _ Allura. _  "You can touch me too, you know."

Pidge made a small sound of acknowledgement, but although she still couldn't look Allura in the face, she allowed her own hands to slide down as well.  Though Allura had none of the many fins that Pidge did, her tail long and sleek and smooth, struck with inspiration, Pidge reached around to stroke the soft tailfin that ran down Allura's back, the sole fin on her body.

And given Allura's pleased, almost demanding groan, it had been an excellent decision.

"More," Allura whispered again, and then slipped a finger inside Pidge's eager gull.

Pidge let out a groan herself, hips jerking forward just a little at the intrusion, amazing as it was.  Allura's finger stayed there instead of immediately coaxing out Pidge's cock, instead running up and down, then to the side, pressing against the inside of the slit in a way that penetrated intimately, teasing at pleasure without especially delivering on it.

"Allura!" Pidge cried out, grip tightening on the fin on her back.  Allura's only response was to press her finger in deeper, now touching Pidge's cock properly, teasing up the side of it.

"Pidge," she breathed back, and all Pidge could do was pull back to kiss her again, desperate and dazed.

With thumb and forefinger, Allura coaxed Pidge out of her sheath, gently sliding her hand up and down the prehensile cock as Pidge writhed in her hand.  Pidge kissed harder as her fingers wrapped around it, sliding up, then back down again, thumb pressing firmly against the underside, sliding freely through the precome beginning to leak.

Allura's hips moved forward, and Pidge could feel herself quickly falling behind.  Without breaking the kiss, Pidge reached down her own hand to Allura's own slit, finding it slicker even than the water that surrounded them.  It offered no resistance whatsoever as she slid two fingers inside, awestruck at the sudden warmth around her hand, the way that the strong muscles clenched around her, the soft groan coming from Allura's throat.  She curled them forward, pressing up against the top, which she hoped would be pleasurable—and the response she earned told her that her instincts had been good.

She finally broke the kiss again, unable to resist taking in the sight of Allura beneath her.  That long, elegant tail had coiled with anticipation that was reflected in Allura's shining eyes, and Pidge's two fingers disappeared inside of her.  Without hesitation, she slid in another.

Allura moaned again, mouth open, absolutely unapologetic at the wanton sight she made, eyes closed, head thrown back.  Pidge bit her look at the sight, the way Allura arched before her, breasts high, neck exposed, and long, beautiful hair waving in the current.

Eyes sliding appreciatively down the entirety of Allura's form, she finally reached Allura's cunt, the sight leaving Pidge's cock twisting eagerly in Allura's grasp.  Allura squeezed again obligingly, and in return—or, perhaps, retaliation—Pidge pressed her thumb up against the very top of Allura's entrance, teasing at the nub she would find there.

"God, yes!" Allura panted beneath her, chest rising and falling; although neither of them needed the action to breathe underwater, the instinct was still  _ there _ , and watching Allura lose herself into that just left Pidge needing more.

Below her thumb, something began to stir, and she glanced back down in surprise.  Allura's clit, which she noticed was somewhat larger than Pidge was used to, and as Pidge continued her coaxing, it grew further—

No, it began sliding out under Pidge's ministrations, and Pidge watched, eyes wide.  She had never experienced this, though in plenty of reading she vaguely remembered hearing about some species having this... feature to their anatomy.  As she continued to slide her thumb across the underside, curling her fingers inside Allura, it extended almost like a tentacle, rubbing eagerly up against Pidge.

"Like that, please," Allura moaned, then slid a hand up Pidge in one long, slow stroke.  She finally released Pidge's hair, then reached down, with her other hand sliding her fingers inside of Pidge's gull in return, still attentive of her cock, but not focusing on it entirely, instead coaxing pleasure out of the deeper places inside of Pidge that, until now, Pidge had never really considered capable.  But instead of utilitarian parts of her body that simply protected her genitalia from the elements, they became centers of pleasure that allowed Allura to enter Pidge, an act of unexpected intimacy and connection that Pidge finds herself grinding into, searching for more.

Pidge tightened her fingers with a gasp, and Allura’s lips met hers frantically.

Neither of them needed to say anything as they pulled their hands back, then ground up against each other.  Pidge’s cock pressed up against Allura’s cunt, and Allura’s clit extended to press up against Pidge, leaving them both shivering.  Swallowing with a touch of nervousness, Pidge slid her cock down Allura's entrance, then tentatively pressed inside.

The moan that escaped Allura's throat left Pidge shuddering, and she closed her eyes as she slid further into Allura's tight heat.  The warm, slick muscle clenched around her, sending jolts of pleasure up through her abdomen, and with a gasp, Pidge realized—hundreds of tiny small villi were reaching up inside Allura and pressing in around her, pulling her deeper.  The texture on her cock was unlike anything she had ever experienced before, and she tightened her arms around Allura, for a moment unable to do anything but revel in the unique sensation.

"Oh," she breathed, mouth half-open, finally opening her eyes to see Allura smiling up at her, eyes dazed with pleasure as she rolled her tail up to urge Pidge further in.

Pidge obliged, twisting her cock to press deeper, the gripping pressure leaving her shaky.  She rolled herself forward as well, burying as deep as she could, and once she had seated herself fully, she stayed still for just a moment for the reality of the sensation to sink in.

"Pidge," Allura murmured, and Pidge could see the desperation in her eyes.  With desperation filling her as well, Pidge surged forward to kiss her frantically.

Their tongues tangled as Pidge groaned against her, then began to thrust forward.  The villi inside of Allura clung to Pidge, but not so much that she couldn't pull back, and the long, slow drag on her cock nearly whited out her vision.  As Allura continued to arch, Pidge quickened her pace, reveling in how Allura welcomed her, opened for her, pulled her in. As she slid her hands up to tease once again at Allura's breasts, Pidge began to fuck harder.

"God," she choked, and Allura leaned forward, nipping at Pidge's neck gently, then licking the slightly stinging spot.  She could feel herself whining, and she slid her hands up and down over Allura's chest, the sensation of the soft breasts in her hands contrasting wonderfully between Allura's demanding cunt, forcing Pidge to fuck her slowly and deeply, clenching tighter and tighter the closer they both grew to the peak of pleasure.

"More!" Allura demanded, gasping, something imperial in her voice, and before Pidge could respond—though, she wasn't quite sure if she could respond at all, at this point—Allura's clit slid out even further.  Though Pidge couldn't see it, she could  _ feel _ it, teasing around the base of Pidge's cock as it slid in and out of Allura, then pressing up against it and—

And then slid  _ inside _ of her.

Pidge cried out at the utterly alien sensation of having her gull penetrated during sex, the appendage burrowing deeper, sliding deliberately against the sensitive parts inside of Pidge that Allura had teased at with her fingers.  Pidge could feel her cock writhing uncontrollably at the pleasure, and given the overwhelmed cries escaping from Allura's throat, that had been definitely part of her intentions.

"Fuck!" Pidge yelped as the clit pressed against her, as the cunt clenched around her, and she teetered on the edge of—

But Allura tensed up underneath her, crying out, arching, arms scrambling to wrap around Pidge's back and yank her closer with a fierce kiss.  To Pidge's shock, Allura's cunt clenched around her, the villi elongating and extending and gripping at Pidge's cock, an overwhelming, mind-blowing sensation that seemed to set every nerve in her body boiling, desperate with need, and though Pidge tried to pull out for one more thrust, she found herself completely unable, trapped inside the heaven that was Allura.

And then the relentless friction dragged just enough, and Pidge tumbled over the edge.

With a cry that matched Allura's, she thrust weakly once more into Allura, the pressure building up in her abdomen cresting over, pleasure cresting into her as she spilled into that tight heat.  Allura gasped as well, presumably at the sensation of being filled even further, and Pidge could feel her response as she clenched even harder, dragging the orgasm from Pidge, forcing it to linger in a pleasure so intense that it was almost painful.  With a soft sob of Allura's name, Pidge kissed back, allowing the pleasure to lap over her in waves.

The two of them remained there for some time, curled around each other, limbs tangled mouths and faces close, and Pidge completely forgot about everything else in the world around her.  She didn't need anything else, just the warmth of Allura against her, the sweet taste of her against her lips, the intimacy of being buried within her as Allura's fingers reached up to play gently with her hair.

But, unfortunately, the world didn't forget them.

"Ow!" Allura snapped, twisting away to the side, and for the briefest of moments, Pidge's heart leaped into her throat, terrified that she had somehow hurt her.  But as she shook off the daze of their perfect embrace, her eyes landed on a small crab who had decided that two mating mermaids was something unusual enough to warrant an inquisitive investigation.  Unfortunately for Allura, it had also decided that the elbow resting in the seaweed provided a tempting target for its claws.

Pidge couldn't help it, and as Allura' swatted the creature away, she burst into giggles.

At Allura's absolutely betrayed look, Pidge managed to quiet down eventually, though her face still stretched into a grin and the occasional involuntary bubble of laughter still forced its way out.

"Oh, please," Pidge eventually got out.  "You have to admit that it was pretty funny."

Allura sulked over at her for a moment—though there was still something refined in the expression, so much more than some proletariat pout, but she eventually relented, and her face relaxed.

"It was, a bit, if unexpected.  And I also have to admit that right now, we can use all of the laughter we can get."

Pidge's own face sobered slightly, though, still buried in Allura, the dread of the past several days seemed to have lifted like a curtain, no longer inescapable, now that she had Allura like this.

"Yeah," she murmured.  "Yeah, we definitely can."

Swallowing as their eyes met, Pidge plucked up her bravery, then steeled herself.

"And facing whatever comes with you?  That's... that's gonna make every bit of difference in the world."

Allura's eyes widened at the words, and for a moment, Pidge worried that she had said something off, that she had somehow... offended her, or gone too fast, or—

And then Allura pulled her in for another kiss, this one softer, sweeter, with more than a bif of yearning in the taste.

"I'm so glad to hear that," she whispered against Pidge's temple once they broke away.  "And since I have to face whatever is coming, I'm so very glad that I'm able to face it with you."


	5. Chapter 5

"That way!"

Pidge reacted instantly to Allura's hissed order, managing to barely twist away from the sight of the reconnaissance droid speeding through the murky water.  While Pidge had hijacked one of her own, managing to reprogram it to notify the two of them whenever another was near, Pidge's intent focus on the map that they had put together meant that Allura had to be the one to monitor their immediate safety.

"It looks like there are several more in the way of our intended route," Allura whispered, voice terse, and Pidge swallowed as she observed the hologram.  Had they seen her yesterday, or had something else happened? She couldn't think of any other reason for increased security, and the thought that they might know she was coming—

"Look out!"

Allura's cry, so startling in contrast to their earlier stealth, had Pidge bolting, and just in time: a harpoon gun shot through the water, scraping painfully down the side of Pidge's tail, though the damage, she could tell, was probably superficial.

Hopefully.

The two of them split immediately, as discussed, and the lone Galra scout turned first towards Pidge, then, realizing that her coloration made it much harder to see her in the water, whirled on Allura, all gleaming white and shimmering pink.

Not being able to note anything—not a growl, or a glare, or even a determined expression on the Galra's face, left a pit in her stomach.  Objectively, she knew that they had to be some sort of sentient creature, had to have some sort of motivation, plan,  _ emotions _ about what they were doing, but the suit left them completely unreadable.  Automatons, almost.

It made it that much easier for Pidge to send one of her small drones speeding in its direction.  As the Galra took aim, the tiny robot, hardly bigger than a gold coin, latched onto its suit—then sent a massive shock of electricity through the body, sending it arcing up into the air, then slumping over, unmoving.

As suspected, the rubber in the suits that the Galra used to protect themselves from electrical attacks from the mers also protected surrounding mers from those same attacks when made internally.  The drone detached, unscathed, the little pinpricks its sharp claws had made in the suit almost completely invisible.

Pidge allowed herself to relax for just a moment, but Allura's next words shot her through of dread.

"They know we're here."

Though her tone was much steadier than Pidge felt, and Pidge very much respected that, by now she knew Allura well enough that she could sense a tiny tremor, an anxiety that meant their odds had shifted and that they no longer had stealth on their side.

"How do you... do you think they know that  _ we _ know?"  Pidge couldn't keep her voice as steady as Allura's, but that confidence at least provided something for Pidge to latch onto.

"I..."  Allura's eyes flicked across the hologram screen that Pidge had provided her.  "I don't... I don't think so? It's all from the drones, which we wouldn't know without your... without Rover here."

Despite the seriousness of their situation, Pidge felt her chest puff, just a little, with pride that Allura had finally acquiesced to the nickname.

"So... your call, Allura.  I'll follow your lead."

Their eyes met, and Pidge could see so much there, plenty that she could understand and even more than she couldn't.  Hope, yes, and what almost seemed to be excitement that Pidge had declared her intentions to go along with whatever Allura said, but also worry, worry that she might be wrong, and the heavy weight of responsibility that sometimes overtook her that Pidge had yet to unravel.

But all of this passed in an instant, and Allura straightened herself, expression steely.

"We go in," she said firmly.  "We give up on stealth, we make straight for the prison, we get them out, and then we blow this entire place sky-high."

Pidge's expression matching with determination, she nodded.

Seconds later, they were both bolting in the direction of the imprisoned mers.


	6. Chapter 6

"Well, I'll give it to you guys; you don't seem to care about making a mess."

Though Pidge shot Shiro a sharp look, immediately suspicious that he was criticizing them, the slight smile on his face seemed to suggest otherwise, and she relaxed a little.  She could hear muffled alarms blaring, even underwater, and she knew that they only had a few moments to get them all free and—

Wait.

"Where's Matt?" she snapped, hands immediately going still as she stopped digging through her pack.  She twisted around wildly, trying to peer through the crowded mers. He would have been the first to greet her, wouldn't he?  But no matter how she strained, she couldn't—!"

The cold metal of Shiro's hand touched her arm, and she twisted back, expression frantic.  Now that she actually bothered to look, she could see that a dark bruise was blooming across one side of Shiro's face, and that something, possibly a harpoon gun, given its similarity to her own stinging tail, had scraped viciously down his side.

"They took him," he said, voice intent.  "I don't know how—my guess is some sort of security camera—but they found out, and they dragged him into the building.  I don't know what they're planning, but it can't be good."

Horror curled around her, suffocating even worse than the pollutants in the water, and all she could do for a moment was stare at Shiro, absolutely horrified.

Another set of fingers touched her, and she could barely recognize that they were Allura's.  She simply continued to stare at Shiro, at the sorrow on his face, something in her vehemently denying his words even as she realized that there was no reason for them not to be true.

"Pidge?" came Allura's soft voice, and Pidge steeled herself without looking over.

"I need you to get me in there."

Silence lingered again, both from Shiro and Allura: Shiro's surprised, Allura's resigned.

"It's... I don't know how you intend to get in there, but it is  _ definitely _ a trap," Shiro said, voice steady.  "They're aware of your presence here.  They'll be here in just a few more moments."

"I... I know," Pidge finally managed, but she closed her eyes and steeled herself.  "Do you know where he would be?"

Shiro nodded, his own expression shifting into one of resignation to match Allura's, and Pidge pulled out the hologram map he had helped her design.

"I'll tell you," he continued, "but you need to let the others out, first.  You said you could destroy the bars of the prison?"

Pidge hesitated, suddenly wary.  She had no objections to doing so, of course, but Shiro was the only one who knew the layout of the interior well enough to help her.  If she set them free and he ran, or if it garnered enough attention to force them all to flee...

"Pidge, please."

Allura's voice, still soft as before, now contained a different note to it, one that Pidge had never heard before.  She remembered Allura's story of her people, of the terrible things the Galra did to them for the sake of knowledge, and the terrified faces of those who were still imprisoned here.

She swallowed, knowing that if she turned to look at them, she'd be lost.

She did it anyway.  They stared back at her, mers of all ages, some Alteans, plenty others species that she had never seen or heard of.  She saw more than a few children, clinging to adults of different species, and she wondered if they had been snatched from their parents or if those parents had died here.

With a shaky breath, she nodded, clenching the makeshift detonator in her slim fingers.

She pulled out the device.  "Not an explosive," she said, as Allura drifted back slightly, "but you don't wanna be near here.  It's... it's actually a sort of fire. If you can get it to ignite, it'll burn underwater."

Though some mers had brought stories of fire from when they had visited the surface, back when that had been safe, very few had ever actually seen it.  If this hadn't been so desperate of a situation, Pidge would have been thrilled to share the knowledge.

"And can you ignite it?" Shiro asked, voice hesitant as he glanced around, presumably for unwelcome visitors.

Pidge simply nodded as she began to affix it to the bars, and it was Allura who spoke up to explain.  "Pidge can do things that shouldn't even be possible underwater," she declared, and despite the urgency of the situation, despite that she might be—no, was  _ probably _ about to get herself killed, Pidge found herself smiling with pride.

"You should still probably swim back, though," Pidge eventually said, giving the device one last tug before doing it to herself.  At her gestures, the rest of the mers in the cage began to do the same, Shiro hesitating for just a moment before joining them. "And look away.  This stuff is pretty bright."

She gave them a few moments, turning to meet Allura's eyes instead.  Despite the worry drawn tight on her face, she smiled gently down at Pidge.  Pidge reached out to take her hand, and the two of them closed their eyes.

She pressed the button.

One of the advantages to this method was, of course, that it didn't cause nearly as much noise in explosions as her usual methods.  Anticlimactic, really.

"Is it finished?" Allura asked, once the hissing had stopped.  Pidge paused, thinking about how much time had elapsed, then nodded.  She also promptly realized that Allura couldn't see that, so she opened her eyes and turned to inspect her handiwork.

The bars had completely melted, leaving a gap wide enough for at least three mers to swim through, shoulder to shoulder.

Pidge grinned.  "Oh, yeah, it's finished."

A shocked murmur rippled through the group of mers, and before Pidge could do anything further, Allura grabbed her arm, yanking her off to the side.  Pidge opened her mouth to protest, asking what that was all about, but then the inhabitants of the cage surged forward, almost as if one group, and began diving through the hole.

Though for a moment, Pidge feared that there might be some sort of bloodshed or that the smaller ones—particularly the children—might be crushed, they at least seemed to arrange themselves into a semi-reasonable order.  The smaller ones were actually allowed through first, then they began to filter through without too much hassle. Pidge had to wonder if they had coordinated this, or if someone had coordinated it for them, and her eyes slid over to Shiro.

He didn't seem to take notice of her, instead watching them all intently, determination on his face.

Though a few stopped to offer her brief words of heartfelt thanks, Pidge ushered them onward.  She didn't want them here when the Galra showed up to stop them. Strangely, a few Alteans seemed to hesitate, glancing at Allura uncertainly and lingering, as if expecting something from her, but she shook her head fiercely and pointed back in the direction from which they had come.

They went without argument.

The sight of the dozens of mers, now free from their imprisonment, vanishing into the murky water filled Pidge's chest with a giddy relief.  She had  _ done _ it.  Even if it wasn't everything she wanted, everything that she  _ needed _ , she had at least saved lives, had stopped these horrible atrocities right in their tracks.

But she only allowed herself to linger on that for a few moments.  Now, there was far more that she needed to do.

Trying to contain her anxiety, she turned back to the remnants of the prison, half-expecting to see it empty.  But, as promised, Shiro still hovered outside the bars, bonito's tail shimmering even in the dark water, open wound on his side.

"Allura," Pidge finally said, steeling herself as she opened up the hologram map once more.  "You ready?"

She nodded, expression tight, and Shiro swam over to them.

"It'll be right here," he murmured, metal finger pointing to a spot near the center.  "I'm guessing, at least. I can't know for sure, but that's where they kept me between..."  He hesitated, then shook his head. "It's where they kept me. I heard other mers, as well, though I couldn't ever see them.  They're tiny metal boxes, and locked, so I don't know how you're going to—what are you doing?"

"Stand back," Pidge ordered, reaching out to push Shiro along as she swam out of the way, too.  Allura had her hands extended in front of her, expression intent, glaring at them as she focused on something that seemed to be invisible.

"What's going on?"  He glanced between Pidge and Allura, then, as he took in the markings on her face and breasts and cheeks, his eyes widened.

"She's Altean?" he whispered, clearly having ascertained that he needed to allow Allura to keep her concentration.  "She's going to—the ones trapped with us have mentioned things, but nothing that they'd been able to use—"

And then a bright, almost white blue sphere of energy appeared in front of Allura, and Pidge and Shiro gasped in unison.

With a noise indicating tremendous effort, Allura stretched her hands, and it grew from the size of a flounder to the size of a sea turtle, then large enough to fit—

"Go!" Allura yelped, the strain clear on her face, and Pidge completely ignored Shiro as she plunged towards the energy, no time even to hesitate and wonder if this was really going to work.

Diving into the light seemed like such an inconsequential action, but as soon as it enveloped her, she found herself in absolute blackness.

The panic immediately slammed into her, and hard: was this her destination?  Had Allura made a mistake? She wasn't in water—she wasn't in  _ anything. _  Not air, not in something solid—did she even exist?  The panic ramping up, she realized that she couldn't feel any part of her, and—

But then light slammed into her, and she fell with a gasping crash onto a cold, hard surface.

For another moment, the panic didn't subside: her gills strained frantically, unable to pull any oxygen from the water into her body.  But then she realized she wasn't  _ in _ water, and with a frantic, grateful gasp of her rarely-used lungs, she pulled in... air.

It hurt, almost, every time she did this, and it had been so very long since the last time she had breached the surface.  Though her immediate instinct was to move forward, to fight for her goal, she could only lie there, readjusting to the painful sensation of no longer being in the water, and praying that no Galra was in the room, or would be in several moments.  They were all probably out seeing to the invasion she and Allura had started, but that didn't mean things still couldn't go terribly wrong.

But nothing stabbed her, or shot her, or grabbed her, so she was probably okay.

With a groan that sounded bizarre to her own ears, she finally managed to push herself up.  The gasping for air was still painful, but less so as her body adjusted to it, and when she finally looked around, squinting at the strangeness of the distortion from the lack of water, she realized with a surge of relief that she was alone.

One problem, her largest, solved.  The portal Allura had opened had vanished behind her, though that didn't surprise her in the slightest.  Allura had mentioned being able to keep large ones open reliably only for a few seconds, and she could only hope that she had closed it for now with the intention of reopening it after a short period of time.

But it  _ had  _ ended up being much larger than they had anticipated.  Pidge glanced down at her pouch: the bomb in there would have barely needed much space to pass through at all, and easy enough to send in for detonation.  Opening two, one for an entire mermaid, and another for that mermaid and her brother, might be beyond Allura's capabilities, and even if they weren't, Pidge would need to assure that she was right in that spot as soon as possible to make sure she could get back through.

Situation established, she took in her surroundings.

A laboratory, it seemed like.  And no sign of Matt.

She could feel her throat tightening, and to her shock, she felt a stinging in the back of her eyes.  It took a moment, but she realized that she knew what this was.

Mers could, scientists had discovered, technically cry underwater, but the results were effectively negligible.  Until that discovery, crying had been a mysterious phenomenon that they had ascribed to the dangers of being on the surface.  Pidge had never considered herself one to ascribe to such superstitions, but the alarm of this sort of thing happening for the first time might have been enough for her to at least consider it if she hadn't already known what this was.

"Shit," she croaked, shaking her head and lifting one wet arm to dash away the "tears."  Another reason to never come to the surface. But she could worry about that later. Or never.

But swimming was impossible, and how was she going to...

A thump sounded, echoing oddly in the room around her, and she looked up.

Metal walls.  Shiro had mentioned not being able to see anything beyond his cell, although he could still hear occasional other mers.  As she scanned the walls of the lab, she noticed that one of them seemed to be a long sheet of metal.

No, not one sheet.  Several, and many of them raised from the wall.

"Can anyone hear me?" she cried, throwing caution to the wind, and she heard a thump again.

Despite her intense dislike of all sapient creatures with legs that she had met yet, she had to admit that they would have been kind of useful right about now.  As it were, she twisted onto her stomach, then dug her elbows into the ground, hauling herself forward by sheer effort of upper body strength. Her abdominal muscles screamed, and her tail ached, possibly from just being out of the water, but she set her jaw and forced herself to continue.

Once she reached the "wall," she reached out to bang a fist on it.  "Is someone in there?"

"Please!" came the familiar voice, and her heart jumped straight into her chest.

"Swim back!" she cried out, fingers fumbling through her pouch once again.  Luckily, she had brought spare explosives, and—

Oh.  Oh, these would probably work even  _ without _ her extensive tinkering, given that she didn't have an ocean pressing in around her.

They were more difficult to set up in the air, and she swore to herself that if she managed to get back into the ocean, she would never leave it again, not unless she absolutely had to.  But she finally managed to wedge two of her explosives into the corners of what might have passed for a drawer, and then scooted back.

Then again, she really hoped that the force with which she had built her explosives to compensate for the ocean didn't blow up everything around her.

"Ready!" she called again, and curled up in as tight as a ball as she could manage as she pushed the button.

Un-muffled by the ocean, the thermite ignited with a brilliance that Pidge had never seen in her entire life.  She let out a yelp as the heat reached far enough to singe even her, and terror caught in her mouth as it quickly spread to the cell doors next to the one in question as well.  Had it been too powerful? Had she hurt Matt?! God, what if she had come all this way just to—

And then hundreds of gallons of water crashed out through the doors, the thermite beginning the work and the water pressure doing the rest of it.  She let out a cry of alarm as it swept her away, but even though it fucking  _ hurt, _ she at least managed to stay conscious, so she couldn't be dead.  Probably.

Then something collided into her, and she let out a strangled underwater cry.

The water finally stopped rushing enough to allow her to steady herself, and unfortunately the laboratory didn't seem to be sealed enough to keep it in, so she ended up with only several inches to lie in as it continued to dwindle out from the other doors.

And lying in front of her, staring up at the ceiling, expression dazed and unfocused, was her brother.

"Matt!" she cried out, slipping forward through the water to throw her arms around him, and those obnoxious tears flared up once again.  This time, however, it seemed to be slightly less terrible, and she let out a sob as she buried her face in his shoulder.

"Katie," he slurred, then his head twisted, taking in his surroundings.  "...Oh. That sounds... weird..."

She let out a laugh that more resembled a hiccup, and she couldn't wait to get underwater where emotions did what they were  _ supposed _ to.

"Y-yeah, it's being in the air that—god, Matt," she sobbed again, clinging to him and sniffling.

He finally seemed to gain some cognizance at that, pushing himself into an awkward sitting position, glancing around.  Her chest froze as she saw a few horizontal cuts below his gills, but he didn't seem to be completely unable to function.  At the very least, they probably hadn't done anything that she couldn't fix later.

"You rescued me."  His voice, still a slur, had at least gained some strength, and he lifted a hand to rub it over his face.  "I can't believe... how did you...?"

"A friend," she replied, breathless, another sensation that being abovewater threw at her.  “And we have to hurry, because… is anyone else in here?” she finished, glancing around.

"I... I don't think so..."  Matt glanced around as well, and she took in the massive crack that covered the majority of the wall where Matt's cell had been, water still slowly rushing out of them onto the floor.  Presumably, the water inside the cells had kept the explosion from reaching far enough into it that it hurt its inhabitant, and judging from the state of the rest of the cells, emptying but with no sound coming from inside, she had to figure that no one else sapient had been in them.  Probably not any animals, either; fish likely would have ended up clogging the exits, or anything else dead would have done the same.

She had to hope.

"Yeah, probably not," she agreed.  She knew they didn't have time to check, and this might very well haunt her, but right now, her priority had to be Matt.

"Do... do you have a plan, Katie?"  He groaned, rubbing at his face again, and she tore her attention away, praying that she wasn't leaving anyone here to die.

"Yes," she said, sort of truthful, and she pushed herself back onto her elbows.  She glanced around until she spotted something that was somewhat familiar, and with a desperate hope, she decided that it looked like her entry point.  "We need to get over there."

"To the... door?  I don't... that's a long crawl—"

"No, right there.  You... you trust me, right?"

Matt met her eyes, and she could feel the guilt knotting in her stomach.  She knew that she sounded like she knew much more than she actually did, but they didn't need to have the both of them panicking, right?

"Of course."

She nodded determinedly, then turned back to her goal.  "Follow me."

Though still unpleasant, the crawl back in that direction seemed to have become significantly less unpleasant, maybe due to growing used to the inconveniences of being on land—or, well, a simulation of such, as she wasn't sure if she was technically above sea level or if they had simply built a waterless hell and sealed it off.  Matt, however, struggled significantly, and she only wished that she could actually do something to help him.

"Just a little further," she urged, trying not to choke on the sensation of helplessness as she watched him pull himself forward.  So much for a grand rescue; their flopping and writhing must look nothing short of pathetic. But when she tried to pull him, she ended up only sliding back herself, and so had to wait, teeth clenching as—

A shout echoed from outside the door, and Pidge turned her back on Matt, scrambling for something with which to defend herself, eyes wide.

The door flew open right as she lifted her arm to throw one of her small drones at him.

The sight of a Galra outside its suit startled her, although she had caught glimpses of dead ones, after they had been killed by mers.  But this one was alive, its yellow, glowing eyes wide as the drone attached latched onto its shoulder. She lifted a hand to press the button, then froze.

This one wasn't wearing a rubber suit, and they were all lying in the same few inches of water.  If she detonated it now, they would all die.

But instead of lifting one of the harpoon guns to shoot at her, this one whirled, yelling something unintelligible back into the hallway.  Now that she managed a closer look, this one didn't actually appear to be armed at all.

But she had no doubt that whoever it was summoning would be.  She gritted her teeth and reached into her pouch for the last of her weapons.

"Pidge?"  Matt's voice cracked in fear as she drew out the ominous dark ball, patched together from too many different materials to count, roughly twice the size of Pidge's fists.

"We can't let them take us again, Matt," she said, voice tiny but determined, even as fear rocked through her.  "You know that."

She could hear Matt's ragged breath, lungs still trying to get used to the empty air, inhaling beside her as she met the Galra's eyes.  For a moment, she thought he would protest, plead with her not to do it, but it never came.

"You're right," he replied, voice just as small but just as determined.

She reached out to squeeze his hand tightly, finally tearing her eyes away from the Galra to meet Matt's.  "But I'm glad I'm with you."

He took it, face pale and unhealthy, but nodded as well.

She caught a flash of movement out of the corner of her eye, and she quickly whirled, hissing and baring her teeth.  She lifted the sphere, shoving her hand threateningly in the Galra's direction, and it staggered back, clear terror in its eyes.

Good.  It knew what this was capable of.

She reached out to press one of the switches as more yelling came from the hallway.

The Galra in their room let out a shriek of fear as she lobbed it in his direction, and he turned to stagger out.  She saw more forms appear in the doorway, and she knew they were about to be swarmed, and one broke off and sprinted inside, kneeling before her bomb.

Good luck, Pidge thought grimly.  That one would be the first to die.

"Katie!"

Pidge whirled at the urgency in Matt's voice, terrified that something else had gone even further wrong—though at this point, she wasn't especially sure what could have been  _ that _ bad.  Although she opened her mouth to speak, however, all of the words dried up in her mouth as a familiar white blue flash of light appeared in front of them.

"What is—?" Matt choked, trying to scramble away, clearly terrified even as Pidge beamed.

"Go!" she cried, gripping his shoulder, stopping him from getting too far from the portal.  "That's—it's friendly! Get through!"

Matt turned, staring at her incredulously, but she locked eyes with him, expression pleading, and she could practically see his thought process: things couldn't exactly get any worse.

He threw himself forward, vanishing into the light, and she scrambled after him, lunging—

Only to have something clamp firmly around her tail, hauling her backwards.

She shrieked, nails scrambling ineffectively at the floor, the only thing in her mind  _ getting to that portal _ as she thrashed wildly, even as it grew further and further—

And then something reached through, grabbing onto her wrist, and yanked her forward.

Pidge screamed again, feeling as if she were about to be torn in two, the pain ripping through her center, and for a moment, she couldn't even think.

But one of her hands was free, and she used it to grip her pouch, swinging it in her attacker's direction behind her.

It wasn't enough to make him let go, of course, but he quickly lost his balance, and the slipperiness of the water did the rest.  The grip on Pidge's arm yanked forward again, and this time it dragged her through the portal, the split second of nothingness barely fazing her this time.  Not when she knew that water was waiting for her on the other side.

And as she crashed into it, into blissful wet, salty heaven, the portal snapped shut behind her.

She gasped—a habit she had apparently developed in those few short minutes, and would definitely have to kill as soon as possible—and whirled as she felt the grip on her tail loosen.  The remainder of the Galra, little more than an arm, drifted slowly down to the ocean floor, leaking purple blood.

She spun back, eyes wide, barely noticing her surroundings or that Shiro still held her wrist with his metal hand as he yanked her forward.  "Are you all ri—"

"Swim!" Pidge yelped, attempting to twist out of Shiro's grip.  "We're right in the bomb's path—we have to—!"

A familiar pair of brown hands, shaking but gentle, reached out to cup Pidge's face.  Pidge whirled again, eyes wide, entire body quivering as Allura smiled softly down at her.

"No," she said, voice unsteady.  "No, I moved before I... I didn't bring you out where..."  She gestured around them, and Pidge, finally devoting some of her energy to paying attention to more than what was right in front of her, glanced around as she heard a boom echo from behind her.

Just in time, too: in the distance, barely visible through the murky water, she watched as the Galra facility collapsed in on itself, a monument of pain and destruction and hatred finally sinking into uselessness.

"Oh," Pidge whispered, awe trickling through her.  This was her handiwork. Her doing. She had ended this scourge, at least for now, and hers had been the hand responsible.

She wasn't sure if it was being back in the water or something else that left her feeling absolutely weightless and giddy with joy.

She turned back to Allura, grin fading into concern as she realized how exhausted she looked.  She reached back as well, pulling her close as they sank to the ocean floor. With a pleased, tired hum, Allura rested her head against Pidge's chest.

"I'm sorry," Allura murmured, hand resting gently on the side of Pidge's tail.  "Two portals, that large, so close together... it takes a lot out of me."

"No!"  Pidge wrapped her arms tighter.  "No, you don't have anything to apologize for.  You... you saved me. And Matt. We were about to... and..."

That unpleasant stinging sensation lurked in the back of her throat again, and she buried her face in Allura's hair, grateful that she no longer had to worry about tears.

"I'm glad you're all right," Allura whispered, and Pidge barely noticed the others floating over to join them.

"She probably needs rest," came the voice from behind her, and Pidge didn't really recognize it, so it was probably Shiro's.  "Do you... need anything else, any of you, or...?"

"Go."  That voice, tired and strained as it was, Pidge knew like her own.  She smiled faintly as Matt thanked Shiro, then said his farewells and, moments later, swam up beside Pidge and Allura.

Pidge glanced over at him out of the corner of her eye to see that he had raised his eyebrow, and she wrinkled her nose, then stuck her tongue out at him.  He rolled his eyes, shaking his head, but didn't say anything beyond giving Pidge and Allura one more significant look.

Eventually, Allura took a deep breath, then pulled away, though her hands wound themselves in Pidge's.

"You need to go," she said, voice soft, and Pidge flinched back.

" _ What? _ "

Allura gestured over at Matt, who was looking carefully away from the two of him.  "He's sick, and staying here will only make him worse. I can't travel, not like this, and you need to get him away from here.  I'm healthy enough to stand it. He..."

As she trailed off, Matt succumbed to the temptation of glancing over.  "I'll be okay, I promise—"

"Absolutely not," Allura interrupted, that imperious tone of voice taking hold once again.  "Pidge nearly died, several times, to save you, and I won't have you keeling over from something completely preventable within a night of your rescue."

Matt, Pidge noticed, seemed to be even more susceptible to Allura's commands than Pidge, and she watched, somewhat amused, as he seemed to wilt underneath the words.  "...All right. I understand."

Allura nodded determinedly.  "I thought you would, if you had half the sense of your sister."

Passing a hand over her eyes, she turned back to face Pidge.  A smile crooked up the corners of her mouth, and she watched her for several moments.

"May I see your hand?"

Pidge nodded, the lump in her throat stubbornly still there, even though she tried to swallow it away.  She knew that Matt needed her, but she couldn't exactly drag Allura along with them, but leaving Allura, especially if she might never see her again...

But Allura's fingers touched gently against the device on her wrist, sending the hologram projecting into the sea.

Pidge watched, eyes beginning to widen, as Allura punched in a set of coordinates, then jotted up several notes that seemed to be directions.  Pidge would have looked, but she found herself too distracted by the sight of Allura's profile, pretty and perfect, as she wondered if she would ever see it again.

Allura's hands eventually stilled, and the hologram vanished.

"Follow those," she murmured, turning back to Pidge, expression soft.  "If you do, you'll... you'll be able to find me. I know that you have so much to do, but I'd very much like to see you again."  She swallowed, then glanced away in a display of shyness that shocked Pidge. "If you would like."

Pidge's chest, still in so much pain from the events of the past hours, of the choices she had made and would still have to make, swelled, and she could feel a giddy joy rising within her.

On an impulse, not caring that Matt was staring at them with a blatantly nosey expression, Pidged reached out, took Allura's face, and leaned in for a long, sweet kiss.

"Of course I would like," Pidge murmured against her lips, eyes closed, wanting to linger for so much longer than she knew she was able.  But she savored the sweet taste of Allura's mouth, the softness of her skin, the warm, extraordinary,  _ alive _ presence right beneath her.  "I would love to. And I can't wait."

A terrible retching noise from beside her, however, left them both jumping, and Pidge whirled, the whiplash of terror on top of her ecstasy leaving her dizzy.

Matt's shoulders hunched as he continued to make the noise, no longer paying attention to either, but the moment he stopped, he glanced back up, expression guilty.

"I'm sorry," he mumbled.  "I didn't mean... but the water here, it's..."

Pidge bit her lip, but nodded determinedly.  "No, no. It's all right. We need to go." She hesitated, then reached out to squeeze Allura's hand one last time.

"I'll come when I can," Pidge murmured, soft brown eyes meeting brilliant blue.

Allura nodded, then gently extricated her hand from Pidge's grip.  "Go."

Steeling herself, she turned back to Matt, then swam towards him.  "You ready?"

"To get out of here?  You have absolutely no idea."  Matt shook his head, then quickly swam off in the direction home.

Pidge followed, not daring to look back, still trying to fight against the lump in her throat.


	7. Chapter 7

**Two months later.**

Pidge lifted her new pouch, made of waterproofed leather and of the highest quality imaginable, higher on her shoulder as she stared up at the gates of the capital city of Altea.

Despite the fact that mers tended to eschew excessive architecture, preferring to do things outside with little need to be sheltered from the elements, a few places existed that defied these tendencies, consisting of sprawling buildings that housed so many unusual and amazing things, and the capital city of Altea was one of them.

She had faced Galra, had swum right into the heart of their fortress and brought it down around them, killing them all.  So she shouldn't be intimidated by this.

_ Should _ , she thought wryly,  _ is the operative word here. _

As she approached the gates, open but flanked by several guards, one of them swam up to her, her tail vivid stripes of red and white.  When she reached Pidge, she straightened, lifting her chin and staring her down.

Pidge sized her up, not wanting to cause trouble, but preparing to defend herself if she needed to.  Dressed in fine armor, the mermaid held a long, thin weapon extended from her hand, though lifted upright nonthreateningly—a pike, Pidge thought, probably loaded with plenty of enhancements to make it so much more useful than a simple polearm.  Her fingers itched to get her hands on it, but somehow she didn't think trying to grab a guard's weapon would ingratiate her much to the new city.

"State your business, sea dragon," she said, voice stern and demanding, and Pidge wondered if that was an Altean thing.

"I'm here to visit a friend," Pidge said firmly, lifting her chin determinedly and staring right back.  "We traveled together, a couple of months ago, but were separated. She told me to find her here once my business was done, and, well..."  She trailed off, fiddling with her wristband, and the coordinates and instructions for finding the city projected in front of the two of them.

"I see," the guard began, expression still cautious, but voice slightly less so as she inspected the sight.  "Did this friend tell you where in the city to find her? It's large, you know."

Pidge hesitated, glancing past the guard to the gate.  The wall around the city  _ was _ rather large, and she wondered how common of a name Allura was.  "Well... no. I didn't realize it would be that big. But she's got a white tail, with pink on it, and pink markings on her face—"

The guard shot her a sharp look, and Pidge wondered if she had made a mistake.  "Does this friend of yours have a name?"

"Allura.  Just... just Allura."  Stupid! She hadn't thought to ask if Allura had a last name; plenty of cultures didn't, even though sea dragons took family names very seriously.  "I, well, if I have to go searching..."

"Follow me."

Pidge's eyes snapped up to examine the guard's face, but she could get no read on it, only the stern, businesslike expression.  But the suspicion had waned, at least, and the guard turned, clearly expecting her to follow.

Pidge did, though slowly, glancing around as she passed the gates.  Though peace had reined in the seas since the Galra had been thrown into disarray, years of wariness didn't just vanish.  So concerned was she with looking for some sort of trap, however, that she didn't realize her escort had spoken with another guard, who had whirled and dashed towards the middle of the city.

"What...?"  Pidge peered after him, moving to follow, only to be stopped by her own guard.

"He's off to deliver a message.  I'll be escorting you to where you need to go."

That wasn't suspicious as hell at all.  Pidge squinted at her, wondering if she should turn tail and flee, but Allura  _ had _ sent her here.

With much reluctance, she nodded slowly.

The two of them hurried through the city streets, and though Pidge wished that she could have taken the time to appreciate her surroundings, her guard clearly didn't have time for any of that.  As they made their way in the direction the other had swam, Pidge caught sight of an enormous building, clearly able to fit dozens of others, gleaming and white as a pearl. It had to be in the middle of the city, and given how long it had taken them to get there, the city had to be even larger than Pidge had expected.

"A palace?" she murmured, as they finally approached it, twisting her head to see how much she could fit into her sight.  "This is... it's enormous."

"Rizavi!" came the cry, and Pidge turned to see the male guard from earlier hailing the two of them.  Pidge's guard swam over, and Pidge followed.

"What's the news?"

The merman nodded, expression satisfied.  "They say she can go in, as long as she's escorted."

"Woah, woah," Pidge interrupted, lifting her hands.  "Into the  _ palace? _  I didn't ask—hang on a second now.  That is so not something I agreed on."

"If you're interested in following the laws of our city," the female guard shot back, "you will obey and allow yourself to be presented to the royalty."

Royalty!  Pidge had so not wanted to start anything like this, but apparently she now had to go along or end up executed or something.

Yet another guard, this one with darker skin, olive green eyes, and a reserved expression, approached, and Pidge squinted up at him.

"We can take this from here."  He nodded over at the two who had been guarding the entrance to the city, and they swam off.

"None of this is really ominous at all," Pidge muttered, and he shot her a look out of the side of is eye.  That might have been a smirk, but she couldn't quite tell.

"If it helps," he replied, voice quiet as he led her inside, "I don't think you have anything to worry about."

It did, but she didn't really feel like telling  _ him _ that.  She also wanted to ask if this was standard procedure for new members to the city, or if the name meant something—was Allura in some sort of trouble for running off?  She would have mentioned if she had lived somewhere like this, and Pidge couldn't imagine any other reason that she might be here…

The inside of the palace gleamed just as beautifully as the outside, shells and intricate carvings decorating the walls in a way that Pidge, in her technology-over-aesthetic existence, had never seen before.

Finally, a set of doors, old and wooden and shining with a treatment that kept algae from growing on them, swung open in front of them, and the two of them swam forward into what was clearly a throne room.

The man on the throne looked up, bearded and white-haired, the markings on his cheeks and chest the same pink color as Allura's.  In fact, he seemed to sort of resemble...

And then she caught sight of the  _ woman _ on the throne, and the resemblance grew even stronger.  Oh.  _ Oh. _  No way.  This couldn't be—

"Pidge!"

Pidge whirled at the delighted noise from beside her, and barely managed to spot a blur of brown and white with a hint of pink before it crashed into her, sending her floating several feet backwards.  She gasped as familiar arms twined around her, and through her daze, she realized that a pair of lips had pressed up against hers

In front of the king and queen.

Who looked just like Allura.

Well  _ shit. _

When Allura finally pulled back, expression concerned, likely at Pidge's lack of reciprocation, Pidge blinked over at her, dazed.

"Is everything all right?" Allura murmured, a crease between her eyes on her forehead, and Pidge managed to nod.  Barely.

"Yeah," she finally said, glancing between Allura and the two royals, who were watching them with mild interest.  A quick glance around showed that, small mercies, the guard had vanished back through the doors and left them alone.  "So, uh... hi."

Allura laughed delightedly, reaching out to squeeze her hands.  "You came! I didn't know if you would... I mean, when you left..."

Pidge nodded again, but despite the fact that gorgeous, amazing, fantastic Allura was right in front of her and they  _ weren't _ at immediate risk of dying, she couldn't pull her eyes away from the king and queen.

Allura followed her gaze, then glanced back towards Pidge and cleared her throat.  "Oh. I... ah, yes. There's something..."

"They're your...?" Pidge tried as it became clear that Allura was struggling to finish her words.

At that, Allura straightened, composing herself, and nodded.  All of a sudden, the regal demeanor that she sometimes put on seemed to make so much more sense.

"Yes.  Pidge, these are my parents, King Alfor and Queen Melenor.  Mum, dad, this is Pidge. She's the one I told you all about."

The king inclined his head towards Pidge.   _ Towards Pidge! _  "It's a pleasure to meet you.  You've done our daughter a great service."

"And our kingdom," the queen chimed in, inclining her head as well.  "Allura said that you might make your way to us, and it would be an honor for us to extend every hospitality to you."

"Right," Pidge said, voice faint, then finally dragged her eyes back to Allura.

"...You never said you were a princess."

Allura's grin faded a little, and she looked away, a little embarrassed.  A very strange look on her, to be sure. "Oh. Well, no, I didn't. I didn't want you to... to treat me differently."

"And what about after?" Pidge managed, though she guessed she could see the reasoning.  Allura's expression shifted into something much more skeptical.

"And you wouldn't have been intimidated at  _ all _ by the prospect of coming to Altea and asking to see its princess?"

Pidge grimaced.  "Point." Heading to the palace had been intimidating enough; who knew if she would have even made the journey?  Now that she was here, hesitating because of Allura's status made... well, it still made sense. But it was at least a hurdle that seemed manageable.

“Do you… think less of me?” Allura asked in a surprisingly small voice, and Pidge’s head snapped up.

“No!  No, no way, not at… uhm…”

Following Pidge’s gaze yet again, Allura seemed to realize that the audience was really not especially welcome.  After bidding her parents farewell (and a very nervous bow on Pidge’s part), the two of them were swimming through the hallways of the palace as Pidge slowly remembered how to relax.

Allura eventually found them a side room, tugging Pidge into it.  Was this the sort of thing rich people— _ royal _ people—got up to?  Having spare rooms for lounging and talking?

But she had to admit that it was very nice, and being able to watch Allura’s lithe movements again was very nice as well.

After the two of them had settled in, Allura clasped her hands together in front of herself and began to speak.

“I’d… I’d like to keep seeing you, if you... well, not that you have to move here.  You can, of course! But you don’t  _ need _ to.  You and your brother and your family are of course welcome, either to stay or just to visit.  But…” Allura lifted a hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

“In all my time as a princess, I’ve had suitors thrown at me by the dozen.  Many were boring. Some were somewhat interesting, but none of them ever drew me to them like you do.”

Pidge, face quickly heating, ducked her head, though the words left her grinning despite herself.  “You flatter me, Your Highness.”

“High—!  No, don’t you—you little shit!” she finished, as Pidge dissolved into giggles.  Allura scowled over at her, adorably pouty, as Pidge smirked. “You terrified me!”

“So now we’re even.”  Pidge tossed her head, watching Allura relent, if reluctantly.

“That… that is fair.”  Allura huffed, but then glanced back up at Pidge, expression softening.

“As I said, I would like it if we could see each other more… just, more.  Socially, of course. I know that our time together wasn’t terribly long, but I have grown fond of you.  Very fond of you, really, and…”

She trailed off as Pidge lifted a hand, watching her carefully.

“Allura,” Pidge finally said.  “Are you asking me out.”

Allura’s face brightened, and she nodded.  “Yes. Yes, that was my intention.”

Pidge stayed quiet for a few moments, and she could see Allura wishing that she wasn’t too well-raised to squirm as she watched Pidge think.  It was strange, seeing her so… uncertain.

“Well,” Pidge said slowly, “I’ve never dated a princess before.  And I’m probably super rude in comparison. So you’ll have to remember that.”

Allura’s grin widened, and the joy on her face matched the thrill in Pidge’s chest as she darted over, taking Pidge’s hands in hers once again.  Unable to contain herself at how absolutely adorable she was, Pidge leaned forward, and Allura met her lips with her own.

The kiss was a proper reunion kiss, not the one that Pidge had barely noticed in her surprise, and this time, she took her time to enjoy it, closing her eyes, licking into Allura’s mouth as the two of them pressed up against each other, tails beginning to twine.

But, as all good things too, the kiss eventually did end, if gradually and reluctantly, and Allura pulled away, watching Pidge eagerly.

“Was that a yes?” she asked, voice barely more than a whisper.

“That was totally a yes,” Pidge replied, pulling Allura’s hand up to her cheek, turning into it, and closing her eyes.


End file.
